Love from Mars 2012

Captioned Image Release No. MSSS-210 — 14 February 2012

This picture of a heart-shaped pit north of Gordii Dorsum was taken by the CTX camera on the MRO spacecraft in 2009. The pit is located at 8.6°N, 144.2°W and contains many interesting features, including slope streaks on the northeast wall of the depression.

This picture is a subframe of the full CTX image B11_014104_1888_XN_08N144W. North is to the bottom, and illumination is from the upper left.

Over the past 13 years, Malin Space Science Systems has featured other heart-shaped martian landforms on Valentine's Day in images acquired by MRO CTX and the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC). These previous examples can be viewed by clicking on the following links:

The image(s) and caption are value-added products. MSSS personnel processed the images and wrote the caption information. While the images are in the Public Domain, NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS requests that you credit the source of the image(s). Please give the proper credit for use of the image(s) and/or caption.

Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) built and operates the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) Mars Color Imager (MARCI) and Context Camera (CTX). MSSS also built and operated the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC). In addition, MSSS built the Mars Odyssey (ODY) Thermal Emission Imaging Spectrometer (THEMIS) Visible (VIS) camera subsystem, which shares optics with the thermal infrared instrument and is operated at Arizona State University (ASU). MSSS also built the suite of high resolution cameras aboard the 2009 Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and has delivered four science cameras for the 2011 Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover mission and one for the 2011 Juno Mission to Jupiter. Currently, MSSS is working on a second set of cameras for the Curiosity rover and developing the Mars Global Imaging Experiment (MAGIE) camera for a joint ESA/NASA Mars Orbiter mission launching in 2016.